For China, large-scale production of SSD controllers is as important as organizing domestic production of NAND flash and DRAM memory. The country has already started limited production of 32-layer 3D NAND and DDR4 chips. But what about the controllers?
According to the website , around ten companies in China are developing SSD controllers. All of them use some combination of cores or ARM architecture (instruction sets). However, one company has managed to surprise: a national developer from China recently introduced controllers based on the first Chinese microprocessor architecture, Godson.
The Godson architecture or cores have become the foundation of the processors Loongson, which have gained considerable reputation. The Godson architecture relies on MIPS instructions and is essentially just as suitable for SSD controllers as the ARM architecture. The controller based on Godson IP was created by the Chinese company Guokewei. This is the GK2302 solution with a SATA 6 Gb/s interface and a performance of up to 500 MB/s.
According to the company, the GK2302 controller based on Godson IP is 15% more efficient than the previous ARM (GK2301) core development and consumes 6.5% less power. No further information about the GK2302 is available yet. For reference, the GK2301 supports four memory channels with LDPC error correction and allows the creation of SSDs with a capacity of up to 4 TB (up to 32 NAND MLC/TLC/QLC chips). Supported interfaces include ONFI 3.0/Toggle 2.0, as well as encryption SM2/3/4 (national standard) and SHA-256/AES-256. Something similar can be expected from the new controller.
A few words about Guokewei. It was established in 2008, although it went public only in 2017. The company specializes in the development of chips for TV set-top boxes, data storage systems, controllers for sensors, and Internet-connected devices. In 2018, Guokewei's turnover was approximately $57.68 million. At the same time, the company receives subsidies from Chinese government funds, allowing it to move forward without worrying about profitability.
Kilde: 3dnews.ru
